


an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind

by Jale_Seigneur



Category: SCP Foundation, 신의 탑 | Tower of God
Genre: Alternate Universe - SCP Foundation, Don't Worry About That Warning Tag, Gen, Magical Accidents, Mentions of Myth & Folklore, Reality, Religious Imagery & Symbolism
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-01
Updated: 2020-11-01
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:28:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,692
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27208165
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jale_Seigneur/pseuds/Jale_Seigneur
Summary: If Hwa Ryun ever had a last name, then it had been thoroughly wiped off the public records as well as her own memory. Such a thing was typical when working for the Foundation; assuming anything about working for the Foundation could be called "typical." As it turns out, what was normal was faked, history books were bullshit, physics was more a loose guideline than a set of laws, and literally anything you could and could not think of was capable of spontaneously disagreeing with the rest of reality one day, for absolutely no reason.Hwa Ryun liked to think that she took it well.
Relationships: Arie Hoaqin & Hwa Ryun, Ha Jinsung & Hwa Ryun, Ha Jinsung & Twenty-Fifth Baam | Jyu Viole Grace, Hwa Ryun & Twenty-Fifth Baam | Jyu Viole Grace, Other Relationship Tags to Be Added
Comments: 9
Kudos: 25
Collections: Tower of God Prompt Meme





	an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind

**Author's Note:**

  * For [levs_penguins](https://archiveofourown.org/users/levs_penguins/gifts).
  * In response to a prompt by [levs_penguins](https://archiveofourown.org/users/levs_penguins/pseuds/levs_penguins) in the [tog_prompt_meme](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/tog_prompt_meme) collection. 

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to Yoglabs, the home of innovation!~

If Hwa Ryun ever had a last name, then it had been thoroughly wiped off the public records as well as her own memory. Such a thing was typical when working for the Foundation; assuming anything about working for the Foundation could be called "typical." As it turns out, what was normal was faked, history books were bullshit, physics was more a loose guideline than a set of laws, and literally anything you could and could not think of was capable of spontaneously disagreeing with the rest of reality one day, for absolutely no reason. 

Hwa Ryun liked to think that she took it well.

She acclimatized well at least; perhaps living in the cracks between normalcy was in her nature. Perhaps she had always lived buried inside crowds yet in an entirely separate world. 

Or perhaps she just needed her morning coffee because _wow_ , it was way too early to be getting existential.

She opened the pantry above the barely used machine hoping for a miracle. Nothing but packets of Maxim instant coffee responded to her prayers.

 _God-[EXPLETIVE REMOVED]-dammit Hansung_.

* * *

Ten years of what was previously thought of as impossibilities being encountered on a weekly, if not daily basis, had an effect on the human mind; assuming you survived that long at least. Some people became standoffish caricatures of themselves, others despondent statues, while a rare handful somehow managed to act like everything was normal and okay even as their immediate surroundings screamed otherwise. Whatever the coping mechanism was, it was still better than completely losing it. 

Although, perhaps this didn't apply when one lacked anything to lose from the start.

The freakishly pale man whose office was just around the hall from her glorified closet could almost certainly vouch for that. Ten years she had known him, and in those ten years Researcher "Hoaquin" Joaquín had remained just as childish, sociopathic, and frankly disturbing as the day he was interviewed.

_"Five siblings with blank eyes and white hair held hands with a demon so they could achieve apotheosis. But when one found out he would not be their center, he broke his crimson oaths which bound him, and ratted out his brothers and sisters to your chambers of concrete and rebar. Pleasure to meet you, my name's Hoaquin."_

Hwa Ryun could count on one hand the number of times she questioned the decisions of the Site Director; deciding to employ the man currently standing in front of her was one of them.

"I'd prefer it if you knocked before entering."

"No thanks. Anyway, I came to inform you that something new was just brought in early this morning and _apparently_ the pick ups thought it was ritualistic so I was called at the crack of 4 AM to come look at it."

Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on how one looked at it, that decision had proven at least a little fruitful. Truth be told, there was a lacking in staff with an in-depth knowledge on the occult; at least no one had openly admitted otherwise, although she had her suspicions on a select few. Having a thaumaturgist on deck had actually proven useful in narrowing down her workload to items that she actually knew how to analyze, and removing all the magic whatever that acted similar.

It was just a shame the thaumaturgist had to be _him_.

"Back up; was it a creature, object, or location? Be specific."

"All three actually; though I only got to test two of them. All the usual markers came out nil for both, although if I was allowed to run a few experiments on the other I might've been able to-"

"Reminder that you're still prohibited from supervising testing with humanoids."

Hwa Ryun heard the man mutter something about a "damn ginger" under his breath, although she wasn't sure if he was referring to her or the anomalous girl he "accidentally" terminated in the midst of a containment breach with a claymore.

"Right, right, I'm aware; anywho it turns out that they also called in a technician- I think it was the geezer with the cheap perm you hang around, to run it all under a SRA. Didn't find anything there either though, so before they just chalk it up to miscellaneous in origin, you get to poke it with a cross and see what happens."

No deviation from baseline Hume levels meant no reality warping, and no traces of irregular EVE meant no wizardry. So with science and magic ruled out, that left her expertise; religious phenomena.

"Where's it all currently being kept?"

"Somewhere north from here. Hansung said to pack up all your stuff and a lunch; it's a bit of drive. He also said that your courier would tell you more on the way there."

_Pack up my stuff? And a courier? This almost sounds like a major thing._

"And who are they?"

"No idea, he just said that he hopes you like news stations."

That would be... Karaka. _Huh_.

Well, it could be worse.

* * *

It could also be better though.

"Apparently both the object and area had been filed under the Log of Anomalous Items for a while beforehand. They only recently got refiled with a number due a development..."

Between the overcast skies, gentle bump of the road, readings of tomorrow's weather, and her pouring out the caffeinated black piss available in the breakroom two sips in, Hwa Ryun was having quite the hard time staying awake. Perhaps it'd be easier if the field agent in the driver's seat didn't have a monotone voice with ASMR reverb, but that would require Karaka to actually take off his visor, which was never going to happen.

"... and there was a DNA match in the dried blood stains and the humanoid anomaly that was found nearby..." 

Karaka had been working at Site-25 longer than Hwa Ryun had, although she wasn't sure how much longer. In fact, she didn't know how old he was general. At the very least he was younger than Jinsung; as most people were, but also likely older than his niece. Well, one of his nieces anyway; Karaka and Cheonhee might actually be around the same age now that she thought about it.

Not that the comparison was all that helpful; Cheonhee's rather extensive use of makeup had made her look simultaneously much older and younger than her little sister.

"... and then there was a twenty minute detour on what the word 'memetic' actually meant, but the point is that EMILY.pic picked up something..."

The key word there being "had", as of how things currently stood Cheonhee would probably look younger than her little sister even without the makeup. It was rather fitting in hindsight; in the rare moments the two met, she had consistently been disapproving of her sister's lack of professionalism; assuming that nearly starting a cafeteria firefight with Karaka over cake pops could be chalked up to a lack of professionalism. But despite this, Cheonhee was only a field agent, while her "unprofessional" sister was part of a Mobile Task Force, much to her envy.

"... while it would match up to what happened to Faker, there are still some general uncertainties regarding other aspects of the emblem. It's probably why Joaquín had been called first..."

Said envy died the day Yuri was hauled in wearing a straightjacket; it was buried alongside her sister's sanity. Her group had encountered a Type Green, and an absolutely absurd one from what reports said. According to Yuri, it was less a person and more a vaguely bipedal mistake God made that He couldn't figure out how to erase. Of course, she wasn't exactly the most reliable witness, but she was also the only witness they had that was still in one piece, including the Kant Counter.

_"They're called Kant Counters 'cause they Kant count for $#!+."_

Her sense of humor had also survived, not that it did anything to console anyone. Last time Hwa Ryun checked, there were still trials being done to see if Yuri could recuperate, it's just that the attempts had gone from types of therapy to trying out every single combination of amnestics imaginable and seeing what stuck. She'd have to look at how that went later.

"... a good portion of the file has already been outlined, although it's a bit barren due to what's unknown, hence why we have you. Lastly, there isn't that much of a risk if you just stay aware and be cautious, got that?"

Being addressed made the researcher realize that she hadn't really been listening. Hwa Ryun was normally so much more attentive than this, but she had been in her head a lot that day.

"Actually, could you go over what you just said, I didn't write any of it down."

The sky wasn't just grey anymore, it was actually raining now; always a good sign of things to come.

* * *

> **Item #:** SCP-V483
> 
> **Object Class:** Euclid
> 
> **Special Containment Procedures:** Due to the impracticality of attempting to move SCP-V483, Provisional Site-25B has been established.
> 
> SCP-V483-1 is to be stored inside of a large containment locker. Level 3 clearance is required for access of SCP-V483-1. All further visual observations of SCP-V483-1 are to be performed electronically. All instrumentation is to be equipped with a Type-3E _(Religious | Human Sacrifice)_ Cognitive Filter.

_[Confirm changes to V483sk.pgr?]_

_[ Yes | No]_

One click and a hum sound later and Hwa Ryun had finished the rather brief conprocs for the first two items on her check list. She took a breath through her nose and her face scrunched up a little. The room still smelled of fresh paint.

Still, she wouldn't complain too much; her new office was leagues ahead of her old one, being at least twice as spacious despite the clutter of unpacked boxes. Granted, it wasn't like Hwa Ryun had much in the realm of personal belongings, she wouldn't have been able to open her old office's door fully if she had. Perhaps she could change that now- the amount of belongings not the door problems.

Or maybe she wouldn't. Minimalism might have suited her better. She'd think about it later, right now Hwa Ryun had more important tasks to deal with.

Like the absurdly deep coffin that the moderately sized outpost was built around. Or the tombstone that had taken Sachi's eye.

Well technically the containment specialist had taken his own eye, apparently some compulsory effect had manifested after he read what was on it. But it was still odd considering that, according to the reports, there was no record of any cognitive hazards present when the grave was first discovered over six years ago. In fact, no one but Sachi Faker had experienced anything period, as multiple people involved in the construction of the area had read the stone plaque and felt nothing.

The current consensus was that it had something to do with a specific trait the man had, and judging by the image on the grave, it was probably his red eyes. A quick check with Emily had confirmed this, and the predictive analysis bot was rarely wrong, if ever. If Hwa Ryun were to be honest, it was a little unnerving. 

The redhead noted her reflection in the monitor and took a deep breath. She immediately regretted it though, as more fresh paint smell was introduced to her sinuses, but still it beat being paranoid.

...

> **Description:** SCP-V483 is the designation for a coffin located near █████████, ████████, measuring approximately 2.10 by 0.65 meters across, with an estimated depth of 1 kilometer. SCP-V483 lacks a lid despite having hinges, and was completely empty upon discovery. The two(2) meters of earth above SCP-V483 were similarly absent, although no signs of excavation were found in the area.
> 
> SCP-V483-1 is a tombstone located near the hole above SCP-V483. Inscribed on SCP-V483-1 is a caption reading _"For the one who loved me most."_ Underneath is the subtitle _[30/6/10 - INF]_ , along with the image of a cross and three eyes, all in red. Both lines of text and the image have been discovered to possess cognito-hazardous effects, in where shortly after the subject stops reading, they will feel compelled to remove one of their eyes, and drop it into SCP-V483. However, this effect only manifests in subjects with red eyes.

_[Confirm changes to V483sk.pgr?]_

_[ Yes | No]_

She looked at the clock. It was nearly 5 PM. Everything had taken longer than she thought it would, although she wasn't behind schedule... yet.

With the safety protocols solidly established before Hwa Ryun had arrived, she should have been able to begin testing right away. Unfortunately said protocols had only applied to the two items the Foundation had possessed before today, and certain difficulties had come up while trying to sedate the humanoid. At least, that's what she had heard from Karaka.

She had also noticed that the spray-painted black Desert Eagle he kept by his side was cleanly missing half its barrel, as if it got cropped in Photoshop. (If Yuri ever did regain her sanity, Karaka was most likely going to die.)

Hwa Ryun never even got to see the anomaly, although she was able to run a thaumometer over the blood samples left behind. Not only did it actually pick up abnormal levels of Akiva radiation, but the amount matched that of the levels around the grave, doubly confirming that the entity and area were linked. 

...

_"Thaumometer? I thought Joaquín had already been-"_

_"It has nothing to do with thaumaturgy, it's just that scientists being bad at naming things is one of the few universal constants that still hold when talking about anomalies. Although to be specific, thaum comes from the Greek word thauma, meaning miracle or marvel, hence its dual usage."_

_"Oh... So what are Akivas?"_

_"Well, its either the measurement of religious fervor or the unit of divine grace, depending on whether you go by the theory that gods are powerful because they're worshipped, or gods are worshipped because they're powerful. It's a bit of a chicken and egg problem. I personally subscribe to the former, although before I had experience in both theoretical and applied theology, I was agnostic, so I might be biased."_

_"For an objective measurement, all these contrasting definitions and uncertainties seem like a real hassle to deal with."_

_"Says the maintenance man for Scranton Reality Anchors."_

_"Fair point, although this is your assignment, not mine. So what do you think?"_

_"Well, whoever was responsible for the grave and maybe the entity, was very religiously zealous. Moving on from the numbers, the first thing that comes to my mind is Odin sacrificing his eye and throwing it into the Well of Urd for knowledge, although from what I can tell, Sachi Faker isn't feeling particularly enlightened. There's also the Eye of Horus and the Eye of Ra, although the latter tends to be consistently rampaging and murderous before being calmed down, so hopefully its unrelated..."_

_"There's three eyes in a triangle above a cross. Maybe it's something to do with the Holy Trinity?"  
_

_"If every cross-bearing anomaly I've seen turned out to actually be related to Jesus Christ and wasn't just some kind of religious Easter egg, I might actually believe that God is omnipresent. Its more likely that the image is either referencing some sort of interfaith cult-like amalgam, or something original. Perhaps I'll be able to get a better picture once I see the entity."_

_"Ehhh, I doubt that. For a religious anomaly, it's... not that irregular all things considered. I mean, compared to your last assignment at least."_

_"Still, I'd need to see it to write a report. I know that there's still complications being worked out, but an interview around five should be doable, right?"_

_"...Hopefully yeah."_

...

Hwa Ryun's Foundation-issued phone received a notification at 5:00 PM exactly.

She entered SCP-V483-2's containment cell three minutes and forty-one seconds later.

Red diamonds met drops of gold.

She had to admit, the entity in front of her would've looked like an average, if not cute young man, had it not been for the void behind its teeth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Halloween! (Or All Saints' Day depending on your timezone!)


End file.
